The hunter who did not kill the princess
by Kurai Fabala
Summary: We are all aware of the hunter who was comanded to kill the princess, but what was the reason not to do it? This is a Fanfic between Samus and Zelda with yuri content.


The hunter who did not kill the princess.

A long time ago, in a magical land, there were a king and a queen that anxiously awaited for their daughter to be born. When the princess was born, she was very beautiful; she had brown hair with golden strikes and eyes as blue as a peace transmitting lagoon; but her ears were different: they had a pointy shape that the queen loved. Because of that she decided to name her Zelda.

Unfortunately the queen died shortly after from an unknown disease. When he lost his beloved wife, the king felt heartbroken and lonely, so he was easily bewitched by a beautiful but actually evil woman that was very kind to the king; she was, however, very mean to the princess. One day, the king also died from unhappiness - or murdered - and after this, the new queen took all the power and the kingdom began to fall apart thanks to her selfishness. The people and the princess suffered because of her; in spite of this, little Zelda was not alone. Inside the castle there was another girl that was slightly older than her who was the royal hunter's daughter; she had blonde hair, she was serious and strong and the princess looked up to her. Every once in a while the princess managed to escape her caretakers just to go out and play with that girl; this made them form a very strong friendship bond. But her stepmother was evil and forbid the princess to leave the castle, thus not allowing her to see the hunter's daughter anymore. Bored, the princess took refuge in the library reading each and every single writing that existed in the kingdom. And like this, several years passed.

One day, the vain queen got hold of a magical mirror which was capable of telling who the fairest being on the kingdom was. The first time the queen heard a name that was not hers she called the castle's hunter and ordered him to slay the other person. The hunter refused to do so and this meant prison for him.

"You shall kill whoever I order you to"

"Will you free my father if I do so?" asked the young huntress.

"Yes." she lied.

"And if I refuse?"

"The hunter will die" She knew that the queen was lying to her but she still accepted. "You must bring me some kind of proof that you did it." And so, the huntress parted towards her first assassination: an angel.

A pair of white feathered things fell leaving a bloodstain in front of the throne where the queen was seating.

"What is this?"

"The proof that I did it, now release my father." She had that threatening look in her gaze.

"Ah, of course you would murder such a pure creature as was that angel. Guards, the hunter who is locked in the cell..." she looked at Samus' eyes, smiled in a repulsive and at the same time mocking way and said "…Kill him."

"What? We had a deal!" Samus screamed clenching her fists, barely containing the desire of throwing herself towards the hateful woman.

"The deal is only valid if you kill whoever I order you to. Your father will only be released when I am the fairest woman in the kingdom" She explained while she got closer to the girl, who, blinded by fury, did not notice the shiny tip that stuck out of the woman's dress sleeve.

"You son of a peach…" The queen's movement was so fast that the huntress' body only tensed in anticipation of what was coming. She thought it was going to be a slap but the sting and burn she felt was not normal, much less the feeling of warm liquid streaming down her cheek and lips. She quickly brought her hands to the wound trying to stop the blood from coming out while she fell to her knees.

"That was so you can learn to think before you speak, huntress" She cleaned the dagger with a handkerchief and put it back in its place while she went back to sit on the royal throne. The girl did not know whether to attack or leave. "Think of this as a favor, this way you will not be one of the persons I will have to get rid of. Now get out of here." The little mushroom shaped guards immediately took her by the arms and threw her out of the room. She felt how the blood did not stop flowing and how the strength was leaving her body little by little; she needed to heal herself.

Things began to get blurry and seemed to move on their own accord, she felt completely disoriented and having moved out of the main hall she knew that there was not going to be anyone to help her. She kept moving out of inertia trying to look for a way out, but it was more difficult each step, until she noticed the floor getting closer to her face, she had fallen and she knew it but she did not have the strength to get up. In her mind, she saw her father followed by a little girl with a very formal dress, it was the princess, with whom she played as a kid and for whom she cared a lot. Even after they were prohibited to see each other, she sometimes watched her from afar and the passing of the years did not diminish the attraction she felt towards her; she just wished to see the princess in that moment.

Samus opened her eyes and noticed she was not in one of the castle's halls anymore but in one of the rooms with a bathroom. It had to be from someone of the royalty, but who took her there? And more importantly, why was the wound not hurting anymore? She suddenly felt hot air in her neck and a pressure that pushed her to the bed on her shoulder; she turned her head and noticed there was someone lying next to her, which almost made her jump out of bed, however she did not. It was Zelda.

Her mind began to fill with questions and she did not have any answer; she did not know whether to go or stay. But seeing her friend's face so close made her feel even more confused and at the same time she admired her beauty - she loved each and every one of her features, her warm breath now came to her more directly, coming out of those lips to which she got hers closer but she stopped short of leaning them on Zelda's lips; she went back to her original position. She did not know what had made her do that and yet she felt happy that it was Zelda who she was with in that moment in that particularly strange situation; she softly caressed the princess' face and fell asleep.

Zelda opened her eyes; she somehow ended lying on Samus' shoulder. She was really scared when she saw her with that wound on her face, profusely bleeding and passed out in one of the castle's halls. With the help of a servant that was nearby and who she made swear that he was not going to tell anyone about that, they carried her to the princess' room where Zelda healed her. For the first time she thanked her step-mother for all that time without nothing to do which led her to read all the medicinal books for entertainment, without them she would not have been able to stop the hemorrhage and help her with the pain.

Thanks to the moonlight and the short distance between her and the huntress, she could easily analyze that girl's face, her features so well defined and strong but feminine at the same time; she considered her as athletic but so beautiful that it was a shame that such a beautiful face would be marked by a scar. For some reason she could not stop looking at her, she looked so peaceful that it reminded her of the time when they played together and did not have much to worry about. She was thinking about that when one of those fussy memories that only come back at midnight appeared as if it had just happened the day before.

_The two girls were in the castle's garden and the princess was crying, they had been playing until she fell and scraped her knee. The blonder girl got closer and carefully cleaned the wound._

_"Don't cry." She looked worried._

_"B-but I'm scared..." She would not move her hands away from her eyes._

_"Of that witch?" The other girl simply nodded. "Zelda, look at me." That girl, the hunter's daughter, was the only person -apart from her dead parents- that called her by her name, so she looked at her with glassy eyes._

_"I promise that one day that woman won't be able to do anything to you, I will protect you."_

_"Nnnnh, thanks Sammy," She got up and kissed the other girl on the lips. "I love you."_

_"I love you too."_

The full memory passed in just about a few seconds. Zelda thoroughly analyzed it on her mind several times, she had completely forgotten about that promise -they were, after all, too little when it happened- but now she remembered and wondered if Samus did too. The mind acts in mysterious ways she thought while a smile appeared on her face. She then looked at the other girl's lips and the image of the kiss became even more real, that was an innocent kiss, the kind that only children can enjoy. Her feelings were still there, only not so innocent anymore; she could kiss her, but that would be taking advantage of the situation. She had to talk with her before.

The huntress opened her eyes again, the sun had yet to come out but she knew it was time for her to wake up. She tried but the pain she felt in her face made her remember the events of the night before and she was not able to contain a grunt of pain.

"You shouldn't move," said the voice next to her, she almost forgot she was with Zelda. "You lost a lot of blood, you should get some rest."

"You healed me?" there was blood on the princess' hands, as well as on her clothes and bed.

"I've read a lot since the queen imposed her useless rules." Samus laid back on the bed but not too close to the princess out of respect.

"Remember when we were kids? Last night I remembered, I was crying because I was scared of whatever that woman would say when she saw that I had hurt my knee, you comforted me saying-"

"-That I would protect you... That was my promise and I haven't forgotten about it." They both remained silent. Zelda was thinking about what she had almost done the night before, which was why she never expected the other girl to make a move, let alone such a quick one; she was suddenly on top of the princess using her bodyweight to pin her down on the bed. Their faces at the same height, very close, and all she could see was her lips, she felt the blood rise to her face when the words the other girl let out brought her back to reality "You have to run away," Their eyes met.

"What?" She looked at her in the eyes which caught her with that clear blue and the strange sparkle they had, just like a wounded wild animal. A tear that fell on her upper lip took her out of the trance she was in.

"It won't be too long and even if I don't want to - I don't have a choice. I don't want it to happen to you."

"What are you talking about?" She was completely lost.

"That woman is doing terrible things of which you are better off not knowing about, you surely will be one of the victims, that's why you must leave." She was speaking in a very serious way.

"Then run away with me! Let's escape together."

"I...no, I can't."

"Something chains you to that woman, tell me about it"

"My duty." she lied. She felt the tears streaming down her face until the princess cleaned them with her thumbs.

"I can tell you're lying to me, I know you, but I won't force you to tell me. Nonetheless, I won't leave here without you."

If that was Zelda's decision, then her destiny was sealed, maybe she would be safe for a couple of months, but the day would arrive.

And the day arrived just before it was a year since the moment the two girls met again but nothing had changed except for the scar and the constant nightmares that the huntress suffered related to the several trophies now adorning the royal throne room next to those white wings. Finally Zelda's name was said.

"Take her to pick some flowers and then you will kill her."

"No." Her attitude took a defiant stance to which the little guards took their weapons out with hostility.

"I will kill your father if you do not do it."

"I will not kill the princess for you." She looked at the mushroom guards. "Why don't you send them?"

"Because you either obey my orders or that useless man you have as a father dies."

"Zelda's life is as valuable to me as my father's,"

"If you do it... I will free him and you will not have any further responsibility with me."

"Lies! Just like with the angel."

"No, I am more interested in Zelda's death that in some old man's life." Samus thought about it, she knew that this time the queen was not lying and if it was like that she would be able to go and be free of that woman at last, but killing her only real friend was...

"Alright. I accept."

The princess ran excitedly through the prairie, after all these years they were having fun with each other and yet the huntress' look was sad.

"What's wrong with you? You seem sad."

"I'm devastated. All this time I didn't tell you the truth..." They had stopped almost where the forest began "You have to run away."

"I already told you that I won't leave without you."

"If you don't go, I will have to kill you." Zelda was surprised when she heard these words. The look her friend had was serious, almost threatening.

"You're kidding, right?"

"I'm sorry but I can't leave." She took out the knife she had in a sheath strapped to her thigh, "Your stepmother asked for me to bring her some proof that I really killed you."

"When you say proof..."

"Your tiara and your heart." Both stared at each other silently for some time. The princess could not believe what her childhood friend - her only friend - was telling her, she only found one solution.

"Then do it." She took a step forward shortening the distance between them. She could see the bewilderment in her face. "Kill me. You are the only person in whose arms I would happily die." She got even closer to the other girl that looked too surprised to move or say something. She took the hand that held the knife and moved it closer laying it softly on her chest.

"No!" Careful not to hurt her, the taller girl threw the weapon away towards the trees where it cleanly landed on the nearest one. "I can't kill you, I... I love you Zelda, that's why I need you to run away." Her confession didn't quite went like she expected to but she had finally said it. She took the other girl's face between her hands and kissed her, she did it softly thinking the princess would pull away but what was her surprise when she realized that not only her kiss was well received, but also that the other girl's lips lusted for more and went from soft to passionate. The few seconds that it lasted seemed much longer until they inevitably broke apart. Their eyes met a few inches away like asking themselves if everything that had happened was not a dream, their disappointment was when they remembered that it was all a terrible nightmare in which Zelda had to disappear or die.

"I love you too." Tears formed in her eyes next to a broken smile. "I will only run away if you promise me that when you finish... whatever it is you have to finish you will search for me and then we will run together to be happy."

"I don't usually break my promises." The tiara was given to the huntress, followed by a hug that tried to delay their separation. Night would soon fall. A last and quick kiss sealed the promise and the princess then strode towards the forest. "I'll come and look for you!"

"I'll be waiting!" Without looking back the princess ran without direction barely resisting the tears that were forming in her eyes with the need of not to depart from Samus' side.

A red object thrown from the door bounced on the hall's floor leaving a bloodstain followed by a golden tiara that went rolling up to the queen's feet.

"So you did it."

"Release my father," was Samus' demand while she walked knife in hand to where the queen was. The queen was silent, skipping her look from the tiara to the heart and then the huntress, in a movement that was repeated over and over, analyzing the situation.

"Free him." _She could not believe it, his father was finally going to be released and she wouldn't have any other reason to stay in the kingdom following that woman's orders_. _She would be free_ "But," _or not?_ "lock the huntress up."

"This isn't happening..." The guards immediately threw themselves on her; no doubt they were waiting for the order. Her resistance was easily overcome "I have done everything you wanted!"

"You think I don't know who healed the wound I made you? That I don't know about how you and Zelda want to run away? And you want to make me believe that you killed the princess? HA! Your father is useless to me and he can go, but you and that girl will never have the happiness that you wish for and I will make sure of that. I won't give you the opportunity of saving her again."

"DAMN YOU, MURDERER!"

"Lady, that is a wonderful idea."

Zelda had spent the night in the woods walking aimlessly and scared, she could have sworn she saw an oversized turtle, a fanged plant and a dragon starting a fire that didn't quite spread... she had never been so far from the safety of the castle where the guards took care of driving away all the creatures that lived in the woods, though she did know a yellow mouse the huntress had hidden away when she was a child. By remembering her home and her friend she felt the need to go back but she couldn't, she had to wait until Samus came looking for her just as she had promised, though the safest would be to look for a place where she could spend the night. She didn't have to go that far before she found a little cabin there in the middle of the woods.

With some suspicion she entered the place. It was a somewhat little place, with a low roof and a weird smell, there was dust everywhere and a general mess -after a life in the palace, this was a horrible place, although not as horrible as the caves in which she had once seen a humanoid fox- she decided to clean with a little magic she had learned from a housework book. Something that caught her attention from this place was that there were seven things of each, surely that was the number of inhabitants there. When she finished, the princess was so tired that she went to the second floor where there were also seven beds. None of which them was big enough to fit her, so she had to put several of them together so she could lay down, instantly falling asleep.

"Is she dead?" Asked a voice that seemed worried, something or someone was poking her ribs.

"Looks like it. Her ears look like yours, TL" She opened her eyes and all of the people around her moved quickly away.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I was lost in the woods and I was scared... Then I found this place, came in to look if there was someone in but there wasn't so..."

"Wait, were you the one who cleaned?"

"Ummm... yes?" The boy that asked the question came out from behind the beds, he was wearing a red cap and a striped t-shirt, his eyes lit up when the princess nodded to his question.

"We've been very rude, let us introduce ourselves." The other individuals began to come out from their hiding places little by little just as he introduced them "My name is Ness, the shyest one is Lucas, this quiet friend is TL, the twins are Popo and Nana, and the little pink ball is Kirby." Nonetheless, another person whose name hadn't been given and who wore a green suit -different from the one TL was wearing- and who had a moustache and a goatee was dancing next to the room's door.

"And that one?"

"That would be Tingle, he's crazy. Please ignore him."

"It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance. My name is Zelda, I am the prin-"

"You're Princess Zelda?" asked Ness, though the surprise was present in everyone else's face, except from Tingle's who had the same weird expression, she just nodded. "But what is Your Highness doing in our humble abode?" After doubting for a moment, she decided to tell them her story; for some reason those little beings gave her trust. Everyone was hearing attentively and let sounds of anguish out or laughs throughout the tale, but when she was about to tell them the part about her stepmother, she was interrupted.

"That woman is evil" "She's cruel." "She's vain" "She's envious."

"She's a peach," Tingle said, everyone turned around and looked confused but he turned back to his weird natural state. When she finished telling the story -omitting the details the kids didn't need to know- the inhabitants of the house decided that the guest could stay and live there the time that was needed, as long as she kept a general order in the house while they were out _working_ or something like that. That was the deal. Zelda accepted; it would be easier for Samus to find her in that house than lost in the woods.

She liked living there. It wasn't easy keeping the house clean and even though Kirby ate in enormous quantities, she liked to cook. The only thing that bothered her was Tingle, who sometimes liked to make the curry spicier or just staring at her –as if he were carrying a camera that only focused on her- and she could have sworn that certain prank that involved red balloons had also being his fault. Weird… But she couldn't stop waiting by the window whenever she had some free time, looking towards where the castle was supposed to be, but nothing happened and with each day that passed the princess grew more and more worried.

One afternoon, while she was looking out the window, she saw an old lady appear from between the trees. She got closer to the house and she was carrying a basket in her arm. In spite of all the warnings from her little friends, curiosity got the better of Zelda and she was tempted by the peaches the woman was selling.

"It looks like you are a nice girl, here, take this peach." It was ripe and she could feel how it made her mouth water. Even though she thought of saving it and share it with her friends, the old lady's insistent words made her not to be able to resist the temptation. The girl bit it without knowing it was poisoned, the bite went down her throat where it got stuck making her fall in a state that resembled death. The other woman laughed with joy as her plan had worked. The princess would no longer be the fairest of the kingdom.

Her thunderous laughter alerted all of Zelda's little companions who immediately ran back to the house where the woman was still there, and in front of her rested Zelda's motionless body. Angry, they began to pursue her with bats, sticks, mallets and hammers. They didn't take long to realize that the strange old lady was in fact the queen in disguise; they chased her seeking revenge until they got to a cliff where the queen defended herself throwing turnips that came from somewhere within her dress. After seeing that she had no way out, she took out an umbrella and just as she was getting ready to jump, an odd creature with a shell, red hair and a body that looked like the one from a tortoise and a dragon at the same time appeared in an instant so quickly that everyone there was lucky not to be crushed by him, except the queen who he caught by the waist. She could only thrash and scream and they disappeared down the cliff.

No one knew exactly what had happened, but they still had to get back and see how bad the young princess' state was. When they got there they discovered that she was dead –according to them- and they decided to preserve her body in a crystal coffin so that everyone that passed through there could appreciate her beauty. Several months went by like this, Samus was still locked in the prison without any notice of what was going on in the castle, though she had heard some rumors about the queen's disappearance and that the castle's plumber was looking for her throughout the kingdom; but she didn't care because if the queen had really disappeared, she then had to be free and yet she was there locked up.

The little inhabitants of the cabin in the woods were making their usual work when one day passed through there a young man in a green suit riding a mare and he stopped in front of the coffin.

"She's beautiful, isn't she? It's a shame that such a disgrace happened to her," the boy with the red cap told him. The young man with the mare just nodded. "What's your name?" There wasn't any answer. In that moment, Ness noticed that the man was carrying a bow and a sword, "Are you a hunter?" he nodded again, it seemed that he didn't like to talk much. "What are you hunting?" He got down from the equine and showed him a parchment with the draw of a being that looked like a tortoise and also a dragon… It was the same creature that had taken the bad queen! While the boy looked at his parchment, another boy with green clothes got closer to him; they had a very similar hat and those weird characteristic ears. They stared at each other for a couple of seconds until a smile appeared in both of their faces. "TL, I didn't know you had a brother," joked the other boy while he gave the young man his parchment back.

The young man got closer to the coffin, opened it and continued to admire the beauty of the girl that rested there.

As if he were hypnotized he got his face close to her lips…

And…

He sniffed.

It smelled of peaches for some reason. Intrigued, the man carefully opened the young girl's mouth and noticed a piece of peach stuck in her throat. With the help of his fishing rod he managed to take it out letting the air in.

As if by magic the princess woke up and hugged his savior as thanks. Everyone ran to greet her, after having thought her dead for so long. And so everyone lived happily ever after.

…

That's not true because then our huntress wouldn't have been happy.

When the guys told Zelda everything that had happened she immediately asked her young savior to take her to the castle. Once she got there she noticed that almost all the town was lifeless. This was probably because of the strict guards that patrolled the streets. When they saw the princess they took her to the Chancellor, who was very much like the guards only the spots in his head were green and he also had a nice moustache. He explained her that when the queen disappeared he had tried to maintain all the orders she had given, but as the princess had returned, she then had the power to rule again. When she heard this information she immediately abolished all the useless rules imposed by her stepmother and named her savior –who was a well-known hero from another kingdom named Link- the new head of the militia. With all of this she almost forgot about her friend. She asked a guard that had helped getting her imprisoned and asked him to guide her to where she was locked.

The guard took her to the dungeons where she was in a cell with chains that restricted the movement from her hands and feet. She was thinner than the princess could remember and her gaze was lost in the floor.

"Samus?" the huntress turned her head and saw the one who had called her name, as if she were looking at a ghost. But this was no ghost because ghosts have no smell or sparkle in their eyes or a smile as warm as the one from the girl that was standing in front of her and then her mind cleared.

"Zelda? Is that really you?" Her eyes filled with tears of joy.

"Samus!" with hands trembling with emotion she opened the gate that separated them and ran into the arms of her beloved. The momentum was so strong that it almost got the weakened huntress off balance, who resisted so she could embrace the other girl.

"Zelda, I am so sorry. I couldn't escape, I was so worried."

"You'll tell me everything about it later. Now I only want us to be together and happy."

With a long and passionate kiss they felt as if time had never separated them and they already knew what the ending of this story was going to be.

And so the kingdom resumed the peace that hadn't been enjoyed for years and finally our protagonists were happy forever after.

THE END


End file.
